TOP OFFICIALS COMMENT ON PROTEST RALLY

PULA, Oct 20 (Hina) - President Stipe Mesic is satisfied no incidents occurred during "Time's Up", a protest rally the national headquarters for the protection of Homeland War values staged in downtown Zagreb on Saturday. Protesting is legal and legitimate, Mesic said in the northern Adriatic city of Pula, adding everything can be settled through institutions. "Messages can be sent to institutions but solutions can't be imposed by force," he said, voicing satisfaction the organisers' promise about an incident-free gathering was kept. According to parliamentary speaker Zlatko Tomcic, the Zagreb protest rally "was a big failure, considering what had been announced and expected." "The organisers evidently had different intentions, but the residents of Zagreb have shown they can distinguish good from evil, that they are democratically aware and won't fall for all sorts of provocation," Tomcic told Hina. Prime Minister Ivica Racan agreed the organisers' expectations had not been fulfilled. "The messages sent at this meeting have been marked by the language of hatred, as before," said Racan, adding that "Croatia's citizens did not vote for this language of hatred, threats, deadlines and ultimatums." "Contemporary Croatia accepts the right to stage demonstrations but does not accept the language of hatred and threats. Democratic Croatia goes forward," the PM said, according to a statement from the government's public relations service. (hina) ha sb